How the BIGA is made
Now that you know what BIGA is, let's see together how it is prepared. The ingredients and doses needed for it are as follows:

500 g of strong flour;
250 g of water;
2 g of brewer's yeast.
The formula that indicates the relationship between the ingredients is as follows: water is 50% of the weight of the flour and yeast 1%. However, you can increase the amount of yeast depending on the time you have available for leavening. Remember that no salt is needed for this recipe.

The procedure for preparing the biga is simple, first of all choose the one with the spiral hook among the mixers:

pour the flour and yeast, previously dissolved in a little warm water, into the mixer, then mix the ingredients slowly and briefly, adding the remaining water. Don't worry if lumps have formed, you don't have to get a homogeneous mixture;
once the ingredients are mixed together, give the solid dough a round shape, like a ball, with your hands, then put it in a large bowl, or in a spacious container, covered with a damp cloth or film and let it rise for 24 hours in the fridge. In the season in which it is very hot, the ideal temperature for the leavening and maturation of the chariot is that of the refrigerator, while in winter it can be left at room temperature.
Among the factors that influence the success of the chariot there are certainly the temperature of the water and hydration, the humidity of the place where the mixture is left to rise and therefore the temperature of the environment.



If you have a dry dough, also in relation to the different type of flour used, for example in the case of wholemeal flour, just add more water.



Medium flour
Water
Fresh brewer's yeast


The water will be measured at the same weight as the flour (1: 1 ratio), while the yeast will be the variable factor in our preparation.

In fact, this will be influenced by the rising times: the higher the percentage of yeast, the longer the time needed for the poolish to mature.

Here are some sample measurements:



If the leavening time is 8 hours: 100g of flour + 100ml of water + 0.5g of brewer's yeast
If the leavening time is from 12 to 24 hours: 100g of flour + 100ml of water + 0.1g of brewer's yeast
You will be able to say that your dough will be ready once a slight depression has been created in the center of the work. The smell should not be too pungent and it will be necessary to pay particular attention to the fermentation times. In the worst case, you could find yourself with an excessively acidic preparation, a circumstance that would affect the gluten mesh of your dough, leading to too compact processing results.

Sometimes it is used to add an additional small amount of yeast (brewer's or sourdough) to the finished dough, and then let it rise again.
The temperature of a poolish at the end of processing is about 23 °, particularly dependent on the water present in the mixture.

Water temperature = 70 - Ambient temperature - Flour temperature

In conclusion

Both the biga and the poolish are two excellent doughs for indirect method leavened products. The preparation method and the recipes are simple in themselves, but must be followed with care in order to obtain the best results.

Using these two preparations in your recipes will lead to slightly different results: the biga will allow you to prepare more honeycomb, irregular and soft doughs. The poolish, on the other hand, allows the preparation of products with small and regular alveoli, with a crunchy crust and stronger flavor.



HOW TO CREATE MOTHER YEAST AT HOME (STARTING FROM ZERO)
The starting point is always the same: flour and water. There is no oil, there is no salt, there is nothing else and if there are, it is not mother yeast.

There are those who suggest a fermented fruit water starter, but I find that it really has no advantage over a simpler start and for the sake of ecology and savings, my advice is to start with water and flour, without too many frills.

The only other tool needed is a glass jar, which must be large enough to allow the yeast to triple in volume when ready. The jar can also be recycled and must be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed with hot water to remove all traces of the flavor.

It starts with a 50% hydrated mixture of water and flour. I started with 60 g of flour and added 60 g of water. They are kneaded to create a smooth and elastic dough, a ball is formed and deposited in the jar. I add a cross cut on the ball to expose a larger surface to the air. The jar should be stored away from drafts and sudden changes in temperature and - even more importantly - away from sources of moisture.

It is covered with a perforated film and / or with a clean cloth napkin free from fabric softener residues and left to rest for 48 hours. After the first 48 hours we proceed to refreshments. Refreshing means nourishing our yeast and, in this phase of creation, pushing the microorganisms that compose it to do their "job".

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